


Everything bounces here (nothing can break)

by minkhollow



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 04:05:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: In which the Phantom Thieves have somewhere alittlemore secure than their chat app to make plans.





	Everything bounces here (nothing can break)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a kink meme prompt asking for the PTs having a shared dreamscape, bonus points for telepathy shenanigans. I help mod an RP with 'shared dreamlike space' and 'telepathy shenanigans' at its core, so I was required to write something for it, really.

The night her engagement is set, Haru dreams of the cage for the first time.

All through spring and into the summer, it doesn’t let up. The cage is rarely the same thing two dreams in a row, but it rotates through a few familiar settings – the living room, the restaurant where she first met Sugimura-san, what she imagines his house or her father’s board room to look like, having never seen either in person. Sometimes she can almost make out the school rooftop, lined with her planters, beyond the confines of the bars, but she never manages to break free.

After the school trip in September, she can make out voices beyond it. They’re indistinct and unfamiliar, and she doesn’t know what to make of them.

Clarity doesn’t come until after she meets the Phantom Thieves properly – which isn’t her solo adventures into her father’s Palace with Mona-chan, or the two awkward confrontations that result from Mona-chan’s not-exactly-feud with the others. It’s after they rescue her from Sugimura-san, give her shelter for the night, accept her with open arms despite the rocky start, and encourage her to finally say out loud that she wants no part of this farce of a marriage. It’s after they agree to help her change her father’s heart, and Yusuke meets her eyes with a look that’s all sympathy.

They know – _he_ knows – what it’s like to be so ground down by someone who’s supposed to care for and about you that you can’t see any exit other than to accept it.

Futaba’s guardian seems surprised she’s brought company home for the night, but all Futaba has to say is ‘she ran into some trouble and needs somewhere safe to stay tonight’ and he immediately starts helping get a futon ready. She’s crowded into a corner of Futaba’s room, with a sleep mask to keep the light from Futaba’s computer from bothering her, but Haru feels considerably safer than she’s felt in her own home in months. Between that and the day’s… excitement, she’s asleep within minutes of lying down.

In her dream, the cage finally opens. The moment she steps beyond the bars, the school rooftop wavers like it sometimes does at the height of summer, then shifts to a lush jungle. Despite their wild appearance, the plants have clearly been well-loved; many of them are plants she’s long wished she could try to grow herself. It’s nothing at all like what she expected, but Haru thinks she understands the cage part, now.

There are no voices, which intrigues her enough to walk around a little, and eventually – given that it’s a dream, she’s not sure she wants to guess how long it takes – she finds a point where the jungle blurs and gives way to another space. It’s indoors, well-lit and pleasantly heated; paint splattered on the floor and an open supply cabinet give it away as a studio. There are a few paintings on easels or the walls; they almost seem to be moving in their own right, realistic enough that Haru could step inside if she so pleased.

It’s almost not a surprise to find Yusuke at a sink in the corner, cleaning out a paintbrush, and yet the incongruity is enough to get Haru to speak up. “Surely you don’t need to actually do that here?”

Yusuke startles badly, but he doesn’t drop the paintbrush; Haru wonders how much of that was ingrained by his previous circumstances. When he turns to look at her, he’s smiling. “Perhaps not, but the force of habit is quite difficult to overcome. I suppose even in my dreams I can’t bear to mistreat my tools. I will say, though, I wasn’t expecting you here quite this soon.”

Haru blinks. “You were expecting me?”

“All of us so far have managed to access this… Futaba called it a liminal space, I believe, but it requires a rather large measure of trust before the door opens. Given the circumstances, I thought you might need longer to acclimate.”

“Well… even despite how things started out, you’ve shown more consideration for my well-being than I’ve received in some time.” It’s painful to admit, but Haru knows it’s true; perhaps the cage first appeared when she realised just how little her father cares for her outside of his own advancement. “And I could tell from your reactions that you in particular know what this is like.”

Yusuke sighs. “Parts of it, yes. It’s unfortunate common ground, and yet, here we are.” He moves away from the sink, back toward one of the easels, and Haru takes that opening to change the subject. She certainly doesn’t want to linger on thoughts of her father’s sins any longer than she has to, and she can’t see Yusuke feeling any differently.

“What are you painting?”

“I’m taking advantage of our surroundings to do a bit of reclamation of something from Sen—from Madarame’s Palace. We encountered a handful of paintings there that we could traverse into, and in fact had to use to successfully navigate a couple of rooms. Naturally, given his markedly uninspired state, he didn’t do half as much with the concept as he might have, and I refuse to let that stand.”

Haru laughs; Yusuke’s indignation is endearing, in a way. “I can think of no better revenge. Other than making a career off your art when you’re awake, that is.”

“That, as most things, is a work in progress.” Yusuke starts working and falls silent, but Haru’s perfectly content to watch him work, until her sleep is rudely interrupted by her phone’s alarm going off. Futaba’s fast asleep on her own futon, and Haru wants nothing more than to stay, to put off going home and facing her father as long as possible.

_Deep breaths, Haru. You’ll be all right._

She doesn’t realise until she’s halfway home that that thought wasn’t hers.

***

Further confirmation that something odd is going on – well, odder than the existence of the Metaverse is to begin with – comes after Haru’s father metes out her punishment for staying out late. She has her phone in hand, ready to text the others and request a meeting, but she _receives_ a text before she can open the group chat.

**Akira:** That looked pretty intense. Are you all right?

Haru stares at the text for a long while before answering, but fortunately, Akira doesn’t say anything else while she’s gathering her thoughts.

**Haru:** I will be. I’m not certain what you mean, though?  
 **Akira:** Side effect of the shared dream space. We think. Ann accidentally livestreamed a good half-hour of Suzui-san in the hospital, before we knew more than ‘three of us are having the same dreams.’  
 **Akira:** Don’t worry, Futaba’s made sure we all have secure text apps. I’m sure she had a look at yours after you fell asleep last night.  
 **Haru:** I see.

She’s not sure if she does, really, but she might as well go with it for now. Learning more about the situation will probably help her to fully understand.

**Haru:** Only three of you?  
 **Akira:** Yeah, even you beat Morgana to it. ‘Implicit trust’ isn’t really a cat trait, I guess, and he’s been pretty out of it since Futaba joined the group. Hopefully he’ll be over that soon.  
 **Akira:** Are you sure you’re all right?  
 **Haru:** I can’t say I’m not shaken, but I really will be fine. I suppose this sets us a deadline; if we change Father’s heart before then, we can persuade him to call off the arrangement, correct?  
 **Akira:** That’s how it’s worked before. If you want some in-person company feel free to come over.  
 **Haru:** I’m not sure I should risk leaving the house again so soon, but I appreciate it.  
 **Akira:** Got it. Let us know if you need anything, however you can.

Haru texts the group chat anyway, to make sure everyone knows about the sudden deadline. Given the speed of his response, she thinks this morning’s encouragement was from Akira, but she’s not sure it truly matters who urged her on.

***

That night, Haru explores her new dream surroundings.

A competition-grade racing track cuts its way through the jungle; that’ll be Ryuji’s doing. She wonders if he’s free of the lingering pain from his leg injury while they’re here. As she follows the track, it blurs into a model’s runway flanked by an extensive dessert buffet, then a gym decorated with an anime mascot character that Haru vaguely recalls from her childhood. One of Yusuke’s paintings dominates the far wall, providing a shortcut to a cafe not unlike Leblanc, though its aesthetic seems to be more appropriate to Victorian-era Europe than the actual place.

The track picks up outside the cafe’s door, winding through a cross between an Egyptian temple and the sort of green-on-black decoration in futuristic movies – there’s no sign that Futaba herself is present, but as far as Haru can tell she keeps a fairly erratic sleep schedule, so that’s not entirely surprising. What _is_ surprising is that the track dead-ends into a blue and gold cat condo, of all things.

There’s only one member of the group that Haru can think of producing something like this. “Mona-chan?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you all show me up forever, did you?” Mona-chan’s head appears around the side of one of the cat condo’s arches. He looks incredibly unconcerned, like he always intended to turn up this late.

Haru laughs. “Well, I suppose we’re all here now.”


End file.
